Akron Steals Victory Over Ohio In Final Events

By

Abbey Carnivale

Sara Nealeigh

Dateline

Geneva, OH

Updated Mon, Jan 27, 2014 2:49 pm

Ohio Swimming and Diving traveled to the SPIRE Institute on Jan. 25 for their MAC opener against Akron for a close matchup that would be settled in the final events of the contest. The Bobcats fell 156-144 while missing major swimmers on their roster at the Olympic training facility.

“I’m pretty sure we’re gonna take it in stride,” interim head coach Derick Roe said referencing the loss. “We definitely know we have some things to work on. We’ve got a long ways to go to get a lot healthier.”

Roe was referencing the injuries that plagued both the swimming and diving rosters. The morning of competition, team leader Tori Bagan woke up with MRSA in her eye, and Rachel Stearns collapsed on the deck after completing her 200-yard backstroke.

Dominating the long-distance category was Bobcat Laurin Williams, who took first place in both the 500-yard and 1000-yard freestyles. She finished at 10:27.54 and 5:02.06 respectively, and earned 18 points for the ‘Cats.

Rachel Stearns led the pack in the 200-yard freestyle with a first-place time of 1:54.9, but just 2.5 seconds later was teammate Josie Barker in second.

Rookie Carrie Dukes took another first-place victory for the Green and White in the 100-yard butterfly when she touched the wall in just 57.12. Michelle Gasior continued Ohio success in the butterfly events, as she took first in the 200-yard butterfly in just 2:09.29.

The Green and White’s Addy Ferguson continued her excellent performance in the 200-yard freestyle by improving her season best, as she touched the wall in 55.28 seconds.

Morgan Srail dominated the 3-meter dive as she finished first at 304.05, followed by Kristin Capcik at 283.35. Capcik transferred her success to the 1-meter dive as she represented Ohio at third with a 269.63.

Diver Haleigh Bartlett was out of commission against the Zips after suffering an injury on the boards earlier in the week.

“Akron came in and they were ready to race, and they raced hard,” says Roe.

The Zips came from behind in the final two events, the 200 IM followed by 200-yard relay, to earn their 156-144 victory.

The Bobcats have a competition-filled weekend coming up that begins on Jan. 31, as they host Bowling Green for their MAC home-opener, followed by a dual meet in the Aquatic Center against Iowa State and West Virginia starting at 1 p.m. on Feb. 1.